Chinese Fiction of the Cultural Revolution

Chapter 10. Dialectal Expressions

Chapter 10 Dialectal Expressions DIALECTAL EXPRESSIONS DEFINED Dialectal expressions under discussion consist of two categories: one refers to the words and expressions which may still not be counted into the vocabulary of Modern Standard Chinese,l but are in rather common use in writings in the standard language. Such items are labelled 'fang' [dialectal] in A Modem Chinese Dictionary. For example, 'sha' [what] (E, p. 222), 'jinr' [today] (E, p. 386), 'ganqing' [indeed] (G, p. 61), 'gouqiang' [terrible] (0, p. 231), 'duozan' [when] (F, p. 245). Another category covers items which do not appear in A Modern Chinese Dictionary. They can be classified into two sub,categories: (1) items totally unrelated to the elements of Modern Standard Chinese, since the characters only playa role of phonetic transcription. In many cases, they are only intelligible to the speakers of the specific dialects to which the items belong. They are sometimes given footnotes by the authors of the novels under examination. For example, 'huizi' [slogan] (A, p. 91), 'manman' [term of endearment for uncle] (A, p. 93), 'dinggang' [offset] (F, p. 418), 'zhagu' [cure] (F, p. 344), 'gaoxinhe' [go about something in a haphazard way] (A, p. 109). (2) items having some relation to the elements of Modem Standard Chinese, such as sharing the same word forms, including the same morphemes, but having the following dialectal characteristics by which they can be distinguished from the lexical items of Modem Standard Chinese. 188 • Chinese Fiction of the Cultural Revolution Dialectal Affixation A root and an affix may be elements of Modern Standard Chinese, but the derived form (by prefixation or suffixation) is not within the vocabulary of Modern Standard Chinese. Examples: lao~di [younger brother] (A, p. 160), lao~mei [younger sister] (A, p. 127), guniang~jjQ [woman] (I, p. 322), jianbang~ti [shoulder] (C, p. 328), Qingming~n ['Qingming' is here a person's given name] (A, p. 31). Dialectal Reduplication Some morphemes and words are elements of Modern Standard Chinese, but the reduplicated forms cannot be found in the vocabulary of the standard language. Examples: didi [the truth or root of a matter] (I, p. 37), ehaoshishi [moist] (C, p. 26), lachelache [chat] (B, p. 168), toutounaonao [head or tail of something] (0, p. 313), fanbaifanbaiyan [show the whites of one's eyes] (0, p. 170). Dialectal Meaning Some items have the same form as words of Modem Standard Chinese but have a different meaning. Examples: yeye [0: father; S: grandfather - here in translation, 0 stands for dialect, and S Modem Standard Chinese] (A, p. 96), popo [0: wife; S: grandmother] (A, p. 96), sihai [0: unaffected and casual; S: the whole world] (A, p. 31). Dialectal Grammatical Function Some items have the same meaning as words of Modern Standard Chinese, but have a different grammatical function in usage. Examples: ... Zhuang Yao guniang, ... nayang ye bu eha nanzihan. [... the girls of the Zhuang and Yao nationalities, ... do not fall short of men at all. (0: a transitive verb; S: an intransitive verb)] (H, p. 393); ... naxie laotouzi zhen gou yangxiang de ... [... those old men are really making an exhibition of themselves ... (0: an adjective; S: a noun)] (C, p. 195). Dialectal Morpheme Order Some items have the same meaning and grammatical function as the words of Modern Standard Chinese, but have a different morpheme order. Dialectal Expressions • 189 Examples: baijie [(S: jiebai) spotlessly white] (A, p. 14), tuxi [(S: xitu) harbour the intention of} (F, p. 392), shiqi [(S: qishi) as a matter of fact] (A, p. 237), tanxu [(S: xutan) chat] (B, 168). Dialectal Collocation Some words of Modern Standard Chinese are used in dialectal collocation. Examples: yi pian laosao [(S: yi tong/zhen laosao) some grievances] (A, p. 265), gill! le yi jig [(S: da le yi jig) have a fight] (G, p. 272), lao Ian bu weijin [(S: ill! Ian bu weijin) old blue scarf}, chi de ill [(S: shou de ill) be able to suffer wrong] (A, p.143). Dialectal Idiomatic Phrases In these idiomatic phrases, there may be some constituents which can be found in Modern Standard Chinese, but the phrases as a whole cannot be found in the vocabulary of the standard language. Examples: liao xian pian [chat] (D, p. 132), chuifeng zhuangdan [boost somebody's courage] (H, p. 228), jiji feng yin [very quiet] (A, p. 116), le tou bao yan [foam with rage] (G, p. 104), ri biao ye zhang [grow...